News & Notes

The Bastards of Fate make music for the 21st century, and possibly — if we make it that far as a species — the 22nd, It’s a cluttered screaming cacophony of connected isolation. ‘Winter of Our Discontent’ may be the bleakest, most emotionally wrecked thing you’ll hear all year, and ‘Own It’ might be the funniest—funny the way Kafka is funny, and bleak the way Bataille is bleak. Or is it the other way around? I guess we’re trying to say that Bastards write like novelists, that they sing with the soul of a choir, and they sound like nothing else on earth.

“Vampires are Real and Palpable” is a darker, altogether more desperate affair than 2012’s “Who’s a Fuzzy Buddy”, sounding less like a studio project and more like a band. It captures the visceral energy of their live shows—a chaotic mess of lightbulbs and screaming. Vampires laughs in the face of its demons; it scowls & weeps when confronted with angels. Cloaked in a sort of Edwardian grandeur, Vampires leaves one’s certainties in turmoil. It one of the deepest, most extreme, most tuneful records to emerge in recent memory.

LIMITED EDITION PREORDER PACKAGE: The package contains your choice of the CD or LP (includes download code), plus you get a limited edition Vampire Survival Kit, which includes an individually numbered slaying stake, a wooden Crucifix for repulsion, emergency vials of holy water and garlic, all of which comes secured in a red velvet bag. The cost for this package is $20 for CD and $25 for LP plus shipping ($4 US, $12 international) and can be ordered here.

PREORDER THE LP OR CD BY ITSELF: You can always preorder the CD OR LP by itself. The CD is $10 and the LP is $15 plus shipping, and you can order them here.

Remember when you used to exchange Valentine's Day Cards with friends from school? We think that's still a good idea. Instead of chocolates and roses and stuffed bears and all that tired stuff, why not give your friends musical Valentines?

This is a 8-pack of Madeline Valentine's Day single postcards. There are four different designs featuring Madeline's art, and each card includes a download code for her new single, "Body Electric". You get two of each design in every pack. $8 shipped! You can order them here.

For Record Store Day 2013, we are releasing The Wedding Present. "2 Chansons" 7", a 2-track vinyl single on 20 April 2013. You can order it here.

David Gedge likes to give himself a challenge, so for Record Store Day 2012 he decided to release an EP... of not just four songs, but of four songs sung in French. Why not? A 'Twitter' campaign was launched to find a translator and Marie Causse, who also translates television shows like ‘The Family Guy’ for French TV was happy to help. This is an American vinyl release of two of those songs, 'Metal Men' and 'End Credits'.

The songs [recorded in the same session as the recently released album Valentina] would sound magnificent in any language. ‘Metal Men’ is the surprise on the disc with a danceable beat and is about as perfect as a punk-pop song can be! A vignette gives you a slight breather before ‘End Credits’ pounds in with its heart beating double drummer rhythm… this time about the end of a love affair.

The sleeve for this American 7" version was designed and screenprinted by Mike Turner of Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records. Limited edition of 500 copies.

Since this is a Record Store Day Record, preorders will ship on April 20, 2013.

"Let it buffer." is the first Kleenex Girl Wonder album of songs written (in practice spaces) and recorded (in pro studios) by the band, and it shows: huge guitars, thunderous bass, and pounding rhythmic production lay the groundwork for Graham Smith's philosophically acrobatic lyrics.

MADELINE. All CDs are $8, all LPs are $10. All deluxe editions are $5 off while supplies last. We have three copies of the Black Velvet vinyl remaining, but they are only available as deluxe editions. Any Madeline purchase comes with a free copy of the B-Sides Greeting Card.

Madeline t-shirts are $5 off while supplies last. We have most sizes and colors remaining, but that won't be the case for long.

In the spare, messy style of Your Heart Breaks, "Harsh Tokes and Bong Jokes" is a nostalgic chronicle of the twins of youth: romance and rebellion. With the perspective that years bring, songwriter Clyde Petersen weaves melodies out of teenage trouble and innocence, songs in which we can all recognize ourselves. Imagine yourself getting high on a playground merry-go-round, having snuck out the first floor window of your ranch house in your neighborhood with no sidewalks because it was built during a time when people believed no one would ever walk anywhere again. Imagine enjoying it.

If you preorder, you can have yours shipped to you as soon as they get to us from the plant. As always, the LP includes a digital download of the music for your mobile convenience. There are two types of preorder for this record:

LIMITED EDITION PREORDER PACKAGE: The package includes an the CD or LP (with digital download), a button, and a mesh trucker's hat with the "can pipe" art on it. The cost for this package is $21 for CD and $23 for LP plus shipping ($4 US, $12 international) and can be ordered here.

PREORDER THE LP OR CD BY ITSELF: You can always preorder the CD OR LP by itself. The CD is $10 and the LP is $12 plus shipping, and you can order them here.

Athenian Madeline Adams' first recordings happened in the afternoon when she got done with high school. She played shows around her hometown of Athens, GA before she was old enough to buy cigarettes. Since then, four more records and countless tours. "The Slow Bang" is a gem.

Originally released in 2006, Madeline's "The Slow Bang", is produced by Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck, whose ghostly piano and laid-back, well-placed percussion accompanies Adams’ own uniquely simple finger-plucked guitar, setting an intimate stage for the heart-breaking work of this southern siren. Picture the kind of summer heat that you have to fend off with bourbon and porch sitting, then layer that on top of the strawberry sweet voice of Madeline trying to get past the precociousness of youth.

If you preorder, you can have yours shipped to you as soon as they get to us from the plant. As always, the LP includes a digital download of the music for your mobile convenience. There are two types of preorder for this record:

LIMITED EDITION PREORDER PACKAGE: The package includes the LP with download code, Madeline's original "What the Devil Don't Know" zine, which has been out of print since the original pressing in 2006, and a pillowcase with the Madeline "icon" art. All drawings in the zine and for the pillowcase are original works by Madeline. The cost for this package is $25 for LP plus shipping ($4 US, $12 international) and can be ordered here.

PREORDER THE LP OR CD BY ITSELF: You can always preorder the LP (with download code) by itself. The CD is $12 plus shipping, and you can order them here.